No. 7 Texas Earns Second Win of the Season with 27-10 Win Over UTEP

 The No. 7-ranked Texas Longhorns handled the UTEP Miners on Saturday, 27-10, earning their second win of the season. The game was full of struggles and slow drives, but the Longhorns emerged victorious.

There were only four total drives in the first quarter, and it began as Texas received the ball on kickoff, but it was unable to produce anything and turned the ball over on downs after six plays. The Longhorns’ defense managed to get the same result from UTEP, though, forcing the Miners to turn the ball over on downs after four plays.

A 22-yard pass from Arch Manning to wide receiver Parker Livingstone got things going, ultimately leading to a nine-play scoring drive for the Longhorns, which ended in a 2-yard rushing touchdown by Manning. After the Texas defense forced a punt after three minutes, Manning threw an interception to cap off an eight-play drive, and give UTEP the ball back.

The Longhorns responded by driving 22 yards in six plays and turning the ball over on downs. However, the Longhorns’ defense made a huge play, intercepting the ball on UTEP’s second play of the drive.

But due to consistent offensive issues, Texas punted the ball after three plays. A UTEP punt followed, and so did another Texas punt. The Miners finally got momentum and drove 56 yards in seven plays to go down and kick a field goal to make it a 7-3 game.

The Longhorns couldn’t respond offensively and punted. On the next Texas drive, with the help of a penalty and Manning’s legs, Texas managed to go 40 yards in seven plays and score to take a 14-3 lead into the half.

The third quarter was slow, like the first, with only four total drives. UTEP was forced to punt after six plays, and then, with the frequent utilization of Manning’s legs, Texas drove down the field and kicked a field goal.

It seemed to give the Longhorns some momentum as the defense came out on the field and intercepted the ball on the third play of the Miners’ drive. It was then a long 10-play, 37-yard drive to go down and kick another field goal.

On the Longhorns’ next offensive drive, seven straight runs put Texas on the goal-line, allowing Manning to find Wingo for a 4-yard touchdown pass, which was Manning’s first touchdown pass of the game.

The Miners then found their rhythm a few drives later, going 87 yards down the field in seven plays to score their first touchdown of the game, bringing their deficit to 17 points as it was a 27-10 game with 1:57 left.

On the next drive, Texas drove 30 yards to the UTEP 17-yard line and took a knee to run the clock and secure the 27-10 win.

The Longhorns will return to action in Austin next Saturday, when they take on Sam Houston State at 7 p.m. on SEC Network.